The European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy [Archives:2007/1050/Opinion]

By: Mr. Gilles Gauthier
Does Europe exist on the diplomatic scene ? Answers vary and are uncertain.

However, it is certain that the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is a reality today. A fragile, recent and imperfect reality, but it increasingly enables Europe to speak with one voice, to influence global issues and intervene in international crises.

Indeed, after a long experience of European political cooperation that started in the 70's, the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of a bipolar world have offered Europe a new capacity of initiative mixed with a will to follow its economic achievements with a political project.

The incapacity of Europeans to fulfil expectations during the Balkan crisis that took place on their doorstep in 1990 has boosted the will to build a real common foreign and security policy, launched by the Treaty of Maastricht in November 1993. The aim of Europeans through this new policy was to contribute themselves to the stability of their surrounding environment (Balkans, Middle East and Eastern Europe), to make Europe a global actor and give it means to prevent and manage crises.

The European Union foreign policy, restricted to customs and trade as well as development aid, has continuously increased on a political level.

The diplomatic interventions of the European Union extend themselves to all continents. Today, the European Union has an important say on nearly all issues: it is a member of the Quartet for the peace process in the Middle East; it has become, through its secretary general / high representative for CFSP M. Javier Solana, the representative for the whole international community on the Iranian nuclear crisis; it had a primary role in the peaceful transition in Ukraine end 2004; it supervised, with 5 countries member of the South-East Asian Nations Association, the implementation of the cease-fire agreement in Aceh that ended a 30-year long conflict, and then supervised the disarmament of the militia and the retreat of Indonesian forces; through a civil and military support to the actions of the African Union in Darfour, the European Union intervened to help suffering populations while reinforcing African capacities to respond to crises…

The 'European reflex' has considerably developed itself: whereas ten years ago, countries mostly responded unilaterally with regards to diplomacy or security issues, an international crisis today will usually be discussed urgently in Brussels in order to know and test partner reactions and then define a common European position to act on a diplomatic level concerning the crisis, before intervening if necessary in the field through European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) operations, civil or military. This European reflex also develops itself locally with increasing initiatives by heads of mission in the field.

The custom of these exchanges contributes slowly to the creation of a common diplomatic culture following the goal of contributing to peace and security and in which each Member State brings his expertise and convictions : the Union would certainly not have acted in Ukraine in the same way before as after the entrance of the ten new Member states on 1st May 2004, with their own history and sensibility. The need to find answers to the crises in Africa has been understood since the Artemis operation conducted by France in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The historical attention given to this continent by a few Member states is slowly spreading to an increasing number of partners. As such, Germany led the EUFOR operation for the security of the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo and, along with France, many other Member States have brought important contributions, mainly Spain and Poland. The stabilisation of the western Balkans, considering the historical role of this region in the creation of the CFSP and the amount of tools deployed there, certainly offers the best example of a diplomacy conducted first at a European level and supported by each Member State who feels individually responsible.

The CFSP is a young, imperfect and fragile policy. It therefore needs to be consolidated and deepened. European diplomacy faces some major challenges: pursuit of the development of its tools, ability to make them work better together, and the creation of a real common European ambition that would enable the Union to be a main actor of the international scene.

If the Balkan war revealed the absence of a real European foreign policy, the Iraqi crisis was the first crisis of this policy due to the absence and total silence of a Europe incapable of reaching an agreed position. The European Union has not been spared by critics for insufficiently taking position concerning the escalating crisis and hostilities in Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

It is certainly from European citizens that the necessary impulse to incite Member states to put aside their differences can come. If the compromises in Brussels are sometimes difficult, citizens and people form the most consensual element and the best advantage of the CFSP. Indeed, they express the desire, every time they are questioned, to see Europe play a major role on the international scene, defend them against new threats such as terrorism, nuclear proliferation, environmental threats, pandemics, and promote their common values such as human rights, democracy, a better-managed globalisation, solidarity, sustainable development.

Despite the imperfections of our model, for many countries in the world that still are, in Africa, in Latin America or in Asia, in the first steps of a regional integration, the construction effort that the European Union represents remains an example.

The European Union can make its particular voice heard, including on major sensitive issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (construction of the wall, establishment of a temporary mechanism to help the Palestinian population after the local elections of January 2006, opposition to the death penalty, support to the International Criminal Court, the fight against global warming, the promotion of a multilateral model under the rule of law On all these issues, Europe speaks in one voice. It can also express its differences and, occasionally, convince its partners, for example by mentioning the case of Guantanamo at the highest level with the United States at the Vienna Summit in June 2006, or by obtaining Russia's commitment to sign the Kyoto Protocol during the European Union-Russia Summit in May 2004.

Mr. Gilles Gauthier is the French Ambassador to Yemen.
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